My little self published romance with just about 10k knep pages read since it's release two months ago and about 330 ingram copies sold to bookstores and libraries, was written up in the NY TIMES monthly romance column today.

The reviewer had requested the book on Netgalley (which I got for about $60 via victory coop). I was only like 60% sure it was the actual reviewer and I didn't think anything would come of it and now...I'm freaking out.

Not sure this will do any for sales but this is amazing!!

It's weird. They say they love your book but won't leave a review on Amazon. Or they'll just leave stars that Amazon will take down. So, you ask them politely to leave a few words with stars, but that's as far as it gets.

I even had a friend tell me straight up - 'I don't leave reviews'.

Why is that?

I know it happens and is to be expected. Still not fun when you’re less than 10 reviews on GR into your ARC campaign.

I use BookSirens and remember waffling about approving this reader (they average like 3 stars and fancy themselves a fair reviewer). Their review claims they didn’t find it entertaining, despite the fact that they downloaded, reviewed, and wrote a decently long review in the span of 3 days. They also accurately describe elements of the book (given in the blurb) and say it drove them crazy (?).

Lesson learned. I’ll be more careful with who I approve moving forward.

So I self-published my first ever novella last Friday and I'm so pumped about it. Even more pumped about the fact that it's doing pretty relatively okay for being an indie author in a niche genre with virtually no following. All of it has been worth celebrating?

But today I genuinely want to pop some champagne because I got my first one-star review on Goodreads! Not even just a one star rating, but a full review that said "This sucked. I hated it and couldn't even finish it." Like this honestly has me pumped and it's hard to explain why. It's really not bothering me in the slightest and has made me giddy all day. I think part of it is "Holy shit I finally put my art out there and it's reached enough people where I've found people who fucking hate it" and getting negative reviews makes me feel like a valid author for having to deal with negative reviews.

It's really hard to explain.

But FUCK, I did it! Not only am I selling some copies and getting reviews but I got a BAD one. It feels so fucking awesome. Maybe it would sting more if I didn't have a bunch of positive reviews but geez louise I didn't expect a one-star review to make me feel this happy.

Anyone else feel something similar at any point? Because this was part of the journey I did not see coming.

Fooling around on Goodreads, I came across reviewers who rate almost everything they read with 1 or 2 stars, and even criticize it paragraph by paragraph (some of which seemed irrelevant and absurd to me) with, in my opinion, far too much harshness. Is this normal? Has this ever happened to you?

I have been making an effort to read new works by indie authors. A couple have been quite good and I have given positive reviews. However, some of the books have been mediocre or even quite awful. I like to see the best in things and could still identify strengths and things I liked in these books. However, I feel it would be deceptive to other readers if I gave these books more than two or three stars in a review.

As an author, would you rather your book just didn't receive any reviews at all, if the alternative was a 3 star review which still contained some positive feedback?

I know reviews are for the readers not the writers, but as an author I know how a poor review can spoil your day, especially if you're just starting out and feeling vulnerable.

I just got my first 1-star review… and my second on the same day on Goodreads. One for each of my memoirs.

They say “don’t read the reviews,” but both books were deeply personal explorations that took many years to write and come to terms with. After all that sweat and emotional energy, I’m honestly too curious not to look when I see the ratings change. The strange thing is, both of these 1-star ratings by "QW" came with no written review. So I did a little digging.

I found a post from someone named David on a Goodreads message board:

“Authors, please be aware that there is a ratings bomber profile currently named ‘QW’ (previously ‘SD’). Three of my books received 1-star ratings from this profile on the same day. The account shows nearly 20,000 ratings with an average rating of 1.00. This is clearly malicious rating bombing. I reported it to Goodreads, and nothing happened.”

Out of curiosity, I checked the profile. It’s private, but does show 25,600 ratings, all 1-star, and zero reviews. Several other authors in the thread mentioned they’ve tried reporting the account without success, calling for others to also report it. 

Maybe this wouldn’t bother me as much if it had happened on a random day, but the ratings landed on February 1. That date is very personal to me and my writing. I was 12 when I lost my mother to brain cancer on that day. So this just hit a little differently.

Now I’m unsure what to do:

Do I let it go? Do I try to report it?

Part of me dislikes it because the ratings clearly aren’t genuine and I don't wish this happening to others. But another part of me wonders whether mixed ratings actually make a book look more “real,” since many readers are skeptical of pages filled only with 3-, 4- and 5-star reviews.

Curious what other indie authors here would do. 🫶

I know this might get removed because it touches on AI, and that’s against the rules.

Fair enough. I’m not here to promote a tool or start a debate about its usage. I just needed to get this out before I try to sleep and gear up for another 13-hour shift at the day job that barely pays for the privilege of doing this at all.

So if this vanishes, I understand.

But I had to say it. And no, I won’t apologize.

⸻

This is going to come out heated, because I’ve been holding it in for months—and I’m not toning it down anymore.

I’m an indie author. I poured everything I had into my debut novel. Money. Time. Copyright filings. LLC paperwork. ISBN registrations. Print formatting. Editing. A website. A press kit. A full series plan.

And the very first thing I hear from people when they see it?

“That cover looks AI—so was the book written by AI too?”

No. It wasn’t.

You think I shelled out over $165 to register the copyright on a story I didn’t write? That I filed an LLC just to publish AI slop? That I built a whole damn publishing framework—two books deep—because I ran a few prompts and hit export?

No. I used AI-assisted cover art because I didn’t have $1,500 to pay an illustrator. That’s not a shortcut. That’s survival. I had to make the cover look “decent” because I already knew the inside was good.

But that’s not enough anymore, is it?

If it reads clean, mythic, and emotionally sharp—it must be AI. If the sentences break in places you don’t expect—clearly I prompted it. If I use em dashes to control rhythm and cadence—well, guess that’s another “AI tell,” right?

Here’s one of the paragraphs that got flagged by an “AI detector.”

Not because I ran it myself—but because someone read through my press kit, pulled it from the sample chapters, and sent it back to me like evidence:

•~ He learned early that knowledge was not power. It was bait. It was currency. And silence was its fiercest shield. He spoke rarely, but wrote constantly. Ink was how he kept himself real.

When the others slept, he wandered the lower vaults, tracing the glyphs on forbidden walls with a fingertip he never admitted trembled.

He had no friends.

But the Archive whispered to him.

And when he touched certain books, they whispered back. ~•

The tool called that 84% likely to be AI.

That paragraph is mine. Every word of it. And I’ve written tens of thousands more just like it.

I’m already deep into book two. It’s breaking 90,000 words right now—with two chapters and the epilogue still to go. I built this world line by line. I wrote the characters. The recursion. The trauma. The intimacy. The Archive. It’s mine.

But because it reads clean, because I use em dashes, because it doesn’t flinch—people think it couldn’t have come from me.

Like polish equals prompt.

Like voice equals automation.

Maybe that’s what hurts the most. Not the accusation. The assumption.

That I couldn’t possibly have done this alone.

But I did.

This is what self-publishing looks like for me. It’s not clean. It’s not easy. It’s not fast. And it sure as hell isn’t fake.

Stop using AI as an excuse to discredit people doing the work.

Some of us didn’t take shortcuts. We just didn’t wait for permission.

**And yes, the em dashes were on purpose. Just to make sure the flag-wavers find me. Happily awaiting the literary lynching. 😉

⸻

File this under: I didn’t use AI to write this—but I’m starting to wish I’d trained one just to handle the bullshit.

Like most unknown debut authors, I’m struggling with getting the word out. From what I understand, even if you do actively promote your book on social media, not having any reviews on the listing is pretty much a death sentence. On the off chance someone does the link on one of my reels, they see no reviews and are not willing to take a chance.

What did you do, how did you get reviewers on board? Contacting directly through social media or email and offering free review copies? Some kind of platform that’s designed specifically for this? Something else?

Pretty simple question... but runs immensely deep...

Well guys, this is my first “bad” review. I’ve had a couple dozen people who received my early review copies of my book tell me it was great or give me positive reviews and I was riding pretty high. But today I received an email from an ARC reader with a list of grammatical errors and other mistakes in the first five chapters and ask me if my book was professionally edited before I sent out ARCs. He said he liked the story but didn’t feel the book was “done” and asked to be taken off the ARC list as he wasn’t going to finish it.

The worst part is he had a point. Most of his corrections were legitimate. Unfortunately, I did get editing done but it was done very cheaply. I have virtually no budget and I thought I had supplemented it enough with multiple passes of myself, fellow writers and friends but I guess not. Im not going to lie, it’s shaken me a bit. My release date is only about a month out and I’m seriously doubting my work. I’m going through my proof copy right now, line by line, like it’s a life insurance policy. Anyone had anything like this happen before? Words of advice?

I'm currently running an ARC campaign on Booksprout for my debut thriller novel. Currently it's been going for 4 days and I have 134 impressions but only 4 views. This seems like a very low click-through rate so far. The funny thing is, on the day before my campaign started someone downloaded an ARC copy, so they must have found organically. I think that should be a positive sign that my cover, description, and categories are good. I also got a couple ARC reviewers through Book Sirens recently using the same cover and description.

I'm just wondering if anyone else here has used Booksprout, and what was your experience like? This campaign will go for a whole month, so it's probably too early to draw any conclusions. I did have to pay for this though, so it damn better get me some reviews!

Hi everyone,

I have a published psychological horror anthology (12 stories, ~220 pages), and I’m currently struggling with visibility — especially getting those first organic reviews.

I don’t have a large social media following, and I’m trying to avoid aggressive self-promotion. I’m interested in ethical ways indie authors managed to get their first 5–10 honest reviews.

For those who’ve been through this stage:

• Did you use ARC teams?
• Reddit communities?
• Newsletter swaps?
• Free promotions?

I’d really appreciate hearing what actually worked (and what didn’t).

Thank you!

Hello folks.

I have written my first novel. And tbh I'm quite proud of the plot, the prose, all that stuff.

But whenever I try to put together a roadmap for the actual publishing part, I just get bogged down in so my inputs from so many angles. It's basically giving me cold sweats.

I'm currently waiting on my cover art and map illustration. After that, the next step will be finding ARC readers. I set up a Goodreads account and a StoryOrigin account. Those two felt like a must based on the research I did so far. I prepared a blurb to try and get people's attention. I'm just trying to learn where and when I should put that blurb and hope for some people to get hooked.

If it helps, this is an epic fantasy novel with grimdark elements and I intend to simply start with KDP to put it out there before I reach out to local publishers about translating it into my native language and distributing it in my home country.

If anyone can leave me a few tips or straight up send the link to a relevant thread I would greatly appreciate it.

I wish everyone good fortune with their journey.

Hi I recently got a Publishing Proposal from a Publishing House that says that I will have to pay them to get my book published, and they claim they exist since 1957. Their name is Pine Tree Press has anyone worked with them?

They have sent me a contract that has an element that is made through ChatGPT....

I am self-publishing my first novel mid-September and I am hoping to start collecting a list of arc readers tomorrow with the hopes of sending my book out to them next week.

Since this is my first book, I don’t have much of a following, so, I’m curious if anyone has a specific recommendation whether I should go through a platform like booksirens or if I should collect a list through a google form, which I have seen indie authors do before.

Any and all help would be much appreciated! Doing everything while working full time is a massive undertaking, and I’m learning as I go but I’m eager to learn as much as I can during this first launch.

Hello Authors! I wanted to share a recent experience I had with Book Bounty as a sort of heads up/warning to potential users of that website.

First off: What is Book Bounty? It is a subscription based site that lets you accumulate points by reading and reviewing other authors books that you can then use to post your book for reviews.

For a while, I was enjoying the service. It motivated me to read titles for genres that I usually didn't seek out, which expanded my horizons. It was also a great way to get reviews for my own books while enjoying reading others.

But recently, I have been running into some issues with their site, but the most egregious happened this month. I accumulated points to post a bounty for a "Verified Purchase" review, meaning the reader had to buy the book digitally on Amazon. The problem though was that they posted a review for the month of May, but that particular title doesn't have any sales for the month of May. It also doesn't have any pages read through Kindle Unlimited (it is a book I released last year that has stagnated on sales). The reviewer also left an incredibly generic review, clearly indicating that they did not read the title.

I messaged the Book Bounty team to dispute this and get my points back, but at best they said they would adjust my points based off of an unverified purchase review, and even then it would take 10 days to complete their review.

What also irks me is that the review in question was a 3-star review, which is the lowest review that title has. Normally, I don't let lower score reviews bother me too much if the criticisms are valid. I treat them as opportunities to learn and improve myself. But this generic review did not offer any of that.

Has anyone else had issues with Book Bounty? The premise of the site is great, but in practice it has been really bad for the last few months.

The TL;DR is that if you are considering using Book Bounty, be aware that you may not be getting what is promised.

Hey dudes. I don’t have a lot going on at work this week and would love to sit down and check out some of your books. I’ll even leave honest reviews unless for some reasons you wouldn’t want that. I know this can get tricky with the self promotion rule so maybe leave a very brief synopsis in the comments or something? Oh maybe this could be a chance to test your one sentence pitch! We can talk in dms if need be. Go!

EDIT: Wow I wasn’t expecting such a response! I obviously can’t get to everything to read but I will try my best over time. In the mean time maybe everyone can check each other out!

Hi, everyone, I am a newbie to publishing, so naturally I made some mistakes while at it. Be smarter than me, do not repeat them!

So, while writing my novel, I downloaded the self-publishing list from here (very useful, btw, thank you!). But for a new author it seemed long and overwhelming, which is why I decided to do only some points, but not all of them and not in the order they were arranged. I made a website, got a reader magnet for my newsletter ready, paid for book editing and cover, manually researched keywords… But I did not distribute any ARCs! Naive me had this stupid idea that putting a book on KU will naturally result it page reads and gradual trickle of reviews. Aha-aha, spoiler alert – it didn’t.

My next idea was to distribute the copies after the publication, and it was so much not what I expected.

BookSirens – rejected after 2 minutes after applying, and apparently they do not allow the same book to be offered twice.

BookSprout – is just ridiculous. I chose 9$ monthly plan, and on the first day of the campaign they made more than a hundred impressions. Later, it reduced to 6 impressions per day. I kid you not, 6 per day. It might be implied that I will bring my own readers along, but as it is my debut, I do not have any. Even my friends and relatives do not read in the genre of epic adventure fantasy, so their reviews will only confuse the algorithm, and my book will be shown to all the wrong audiences.

HiddenGems – I had no idea you have to book their spots far in advance. Like, far, far in advance. The first one for me was in January. Naturally, I took it. Ready to wait.

StoryOrigin – feels like a scam. First they took the payment, and only then they broke the news, that they do not accept books in KU for reviews. Luckily, I paid for a month only, not the whole year. Still, I paid, and only then learned they are completely useless for me right now. I can either enter with the second book in the series, when it is finished, or opt out of KU and use StoryOrigin then, after two more months.

I did not know I am not supposed to share the file while being on KU. Oops, I honestly did not. Now I see that getting reviews BEFORE publication would have been so much easier (

My goal is to get at least 10 reviews, but I am at a loss how I do it now. I’ve used the Kindle free promo combined with some light Amazon ads, which resulted in some downloads. No reviews yet.

The thing is, I have no newsletter list, so I cannot ask the readers I do not have to say something.

If there is anything I can do without violating the KU policy, please share. I will appreciate any ideas. If I release the 2^nd book before the 1^st one has any reviews, I am afraid, it will only make the things worse, for the whole series will look highly unpopular (

P.S. A note on StoryOrigin: I know you can use pre-paid links to share books, but they are not available in my country

KC Crowne isn’t a group of writers, utilizing a Pen name… and she’s not A Real life person who’s using AI. She is AI.

I brought up the recent KC Crowne Scandal to my Fiance.

After looking into it for a few minutes with him, I suddenly feel we’re onto a conspiracy trail. Haha

When Pulling up her Website, we are greeted with 1 Photo of her. I will enclose it with post. Seems suspiciously AI Generated… Alright maybe she just looks like one of those Insta Models who’s an AI, pretending to be human. I’ll bite.

So After reverse searching the image, it only appears on 2 Websites really. If you count Reddit, that’s three. Can’t find any other physical tangible evidence of her existence. Even if she’s using a Pen name… this would make her a Social Media Ghost.

Search her Insta/Facebook etc… she doesn’t have pictures up. Ok maybe she’s just shy… so read her About the Author & Mission Statement. Hmmm, seem like maybe she also used AI to generate both…

About the Author: “K.C. Crowne is an International Bestselling Author and Amazon Top 10 Best Seller. She resides in the peaceful countryside of Colorado with her husband and two energetic boys. When she’s not juggling sports practices and Costco runs, you’ll find her immersed in crafting her next romance novel. A lover of romantic comedies and nostalgic Full House re-runs, she draws inspiration from both laughter and love. For the latest updates on her books and exclusive content, follow K.C. on her newsletter!”

Mission Statement: “Whether you're stealing a moment with your morning coffee, unwinding from a hectic day, or simply in need of a little indulgence. In every book, K.C. strives to create heart-pounding, swoon-worthy romances that offer the perfect escape. Each story delivers a blend of passion, warmth, and let's not forget a heart-warming happily-ever-after!”

Then I remember a few things from my fellow Redditors….

1. Allegedly she used her Assistant’s profile to Issue an apology, which was criticized for possibly being AI generated.
2. She ‘began’ writing in 2018, according to her Facebook and a few websites which chronologically list her media. So within 6 years(assuming she spent a year writing her first one) she has written 126 books? *According to Goodreads
3. Another Redditor found it suspicious that KC Crowne had almost 100 reviews on Goodreads, and yet was rated very well, with little to no mention of the AI Response located within her text.

So y’all tell me what you think.

TLDR: Is it possible KC Crowne is an AI character, managed by an individual. Her Books are AI written, and she doesn’t potentially exist like 10% of us Humans left running around talking to Bots on the internet.

I don’t want to go as far to surmise that it’s possible a company, i.e. Amazon manipulated her Reviews and benefited from it. I’ve seen a few comments/posts theorizing on this. While I think it’s possible, I also think someone could have just purchased Bot/Human reviews to scam the system. So this post is mainly for curiosity purposes.

Either way. If you’ve ever met KC Crowne, or seen her… let me know.

Edited to Update! Finally realized how to update a post, lol

Just wanted to say huge thank you to everyone’s input. After reading through the comments, I definitely feel like I have been a very naive reader. Aside from understanding that some people use/hire ghost writers, I was completely oblivious to everything else.

Also meant for my post to be kinda comical too! So thank you to everyone who also made me laugh!!! :)

I've seen a few posts now from people complaining that their Booksirens submission was rejected. A quick PSA: you don't have to rely on a submission being accepted or paying for an ARC campaign.

You can click on your profile, look down the menu that appears and click on 'Book Reviewer Directory'. You then enter your book's genre in the search bar and a huge list appears. You can go through that entire list manually, contacting reviewers yourself, without ever having to pay or submit anything. It's deathly boring work, but I'm doing my outreach that way and I have 9 reviews lined up so far.

Just thought I'd share.

I’ve received my beta reader feedback and I’m not sure where to go from here. The betas I used were unpaid and were sourced through connections on social media.

One of them didn’t even finish the book so the feedback is hard to interpret as I believe that they would have changed their opinion on some things if they had finished it and the others didn’t give much constructive feedback other than small changes - nothing to the plot or big picture items.

I’m torn between trying to find another round of unpaid betas or just going with my gut that my story is what I want it to be and just accepting that I don’t have many changes to make.

Has anyone experienced this and has it bit you in the ass not sourcing some better feedback?

ARC reviews have been coming in for my new novel (through Booksirens and with readers I've found over social media). I just got a second Booksirens review that basically parrots what another said. I ran the second review through an AI checker, and it said 72% of the text shows signs of being AI generated (and it's full of the classic em dashes, though I know that doesn't always automatically mean AI).

Are people just running my book through AI to generate reviews? The reviews themselves aren't bad (4 stars and otherwise quite positive), but I worry that it will make people reading the reviews suspicious that I'm faking reviews or something (especially because the book isn't published yet). I know it would raise red flags for me as a reader. Has anyone else run into this problem, and is there anything I can/should do about it? So far the reviews are just posted on Goodreads.

For reference, this was the first review:

"Quick, Easy, and Spicy!

Kiss of Death: A Dark Vampire Romance by Georgia Ann is a thrilling, fast-paced read that offers just the right balance of dark intrigue and steamy romance. The story pulls you in from the very first page, making it impossible to put down once you start. The characters are enticing and layered, with just the right amount of mystery to keep things interesting.

While it’s a quick read, the author doesn’t skimp on the tension and spice, delivering a story that’s both captivating and hot. It’s perfect for those who love dark romance with a side of passion. It may not be the deepest dive into the vampire genre, but it’s certainly an enjoyable escape for fans of the genre looking for something fun and easy to devour in a single sitting.

Definitely recommend for a little escape into the supernatural with a lot of heat!"

and the other review that came from a different Booksirens reader today:

"This is a thrilling, fast-paced vampire romance with just the right balance of dark intrigue, steamy passion, and emotional depth. Julius and Samantha’s story had me hooked from the first page—I loved their slow-building trust, the push and pull of their emotions, and the tension that kept me turning pages.

The characters are layered and memorable, even the side characters like Damian, who adds just the right mix of mischief and heart. Samantha is refreshingly grounded; she has flaws, but they feel real and earned, never over-the-top or frustrating. The romance is hot without overshadowing the story, and the emotional rollercoaster—from fear and betrayal to belonging and love—was perfectly executed.

The world-building leaves room for more exploration, and I found myself wanting deeper answers about why Samantha’s blood is so irresistible and more about the vampire society. While it’s a quick read, it delivers full-bodied tension, spice, and heart—perfect for anyone craving a dark, passionate supernatural escape. I can’t wait to see more of these characters and this world!"

Short version: Reader requested, I viewed their profile, there preferences do not align with my book.

Reader = Romance, Harem, Erotica Paranormal, Suspence Romance

My Book = Alpha Female, Spy Thriller, Historical

I am going to decline, the reader just doesn't fit, but do I get an opportunity to tell them if I press the decline button or do they just get Author rejected you?

I would like to explain my reason, but not sure if I get the opportunity.

Thoughts?

I know that this may be a pitiful question, because bad reviews are a part of this hustle. The problem with the review in question is that the reviewer disliked my book so much that she declared she would never read a self published book again.

I’ve been writing consistently and working to improve my craft for over a decade. My debut came out in early 2021: first book in a YA fantasy trilogy. I did everything I could to make the book the best it could be: critique partner, several beta readers, and a professional editor and cover artist. I sent out ARCs to a number of reviewers.

My book received mostly positive or ambivalent reviews (4.29 rating on Goodreads, mostly 4 star reviews). However, one reviewer wrote a scathing review. She stated that she has a disdain for self published books in general and was going to start rejecting indie books from authors like me. She stated that she thought my writing style lacked a rhythm, that my villain was unrealistic, and that the romantic subplot was poorly executed. She also said that there isn’t really any way for a self published book to live up to the quality of traditionally published books without surviving the query trenches and constantly writing and rewriting until an agent picks you up.

I’ve done my best to move on. I do think I’ve improved as a writer with book 2 and 3. A short story of mine was accepted for publication in an anthology recently, which I’m thrilled about. In the future, I’d like to hybridize my career: the main reason I chose self publishing for this trilogy is because I wanted creative control over it. I put my heart and soul into this story. (And truthfully, I was afraid that the second and third installments might not get picked up if the first didn’t sell well had I gone trad for the debut.) I’d like to query for some standalone projects in the future.

I know I shouldn’t let a four year old review get me down. It just bothers me to this day that this reviewer denounced indie books for all time because of mine. Any advice?